Karabiyik Irem Huri, Ilgaz Aysegul
Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey.
J Agromedicine. 2025 Oct;30(4):732-743. doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2025.2539968. Epub 2025 Jul 28.
Agricultural workers may experience various health problems as a result of exposure to toxic substances, particularly to pesticides. Adequate health literacy is necessary to protect and enhance the well-being of agricultural workers. Agricultural workers have a poor rate of participation in cancer screening. This study aimed to explore the relationship between health literacy levels and participation in cancer screening among agricultural workers.
This descriptive study was conducted with 340 agricultural workers between December 2023 and May 2024. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the Descriptive Characteristics Questionnaire, Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32), and Cancer Screening Participation Status Questionnaire.
Participants were found to have a 32.6% adequate health literacy level. In this study, of the female agricultural workers, 37.3% had HPV DNA testing, 35.7% had mammography, 56.7% performed breast self-examination, and 26.3% had clinical breast examination. Among the participants, 27.6% participated in the fecal occult blood test and 21.1% in colonoscopy. An urologist examined 38.8% of male agricultural workers, and 34.9% had their prostate specific antigen levels checked. The health literacy levels of individuals who were older, female, single, of lower education level, had more annual working time and daily working hours in agriculture were significantly lower. A statistically significant relationship was found between participants' status of performing breast self-examination or participating in prostate cancer screenings and their health literacy levels.
Two-thirds of agricultural workers did not have adequate health literacy. The percentage of participants who took part in cancer screening did not exceed one-third. Therefore, qualitative studies should be conducted to investigate why agricultural workers do not participate in cancer screening initiatives to increase health literacy should be planned, and cancer screening should be recommended to agricultural workers by health professionals. Furthermore, future efforts to improve the health literacy of agricultural workers should focus on target individuals who are older, female, single, of lower education level, and more experienced (more daily working hours and years) in agriculture.
农业工人可能因接触有毒物质，尤其是农药，而出现各种健康问题。具备足够的健康素养对于保护和提升农业工人的健康至关重要。农业工人参与癌症筛查的比例较低。本研究旨在探讨农业工人的健康素养水平与参与癌症筛查之间的关系。
本描述性研究于2023年12月至2024年5月对340名农业工人进行。数据通过面对面访谈收集，使用描述性特征问卷、土耳其健康素养量表 - 32（THLS - 32）和癌症筛查参与状况问卷。
参与者的健康素养水平充足率为32.6%。在本研究中，女性农业工人中，37.3%进行了人乳头瘤病毒DNA检测，35.7%进行了乳房X光检查，56.7%进行了乳房自我检查，26.3%进行了临床乳房检查。在参与者中，27.6%参加了粪便潜血试验，21.1%参加了结肠镜检查。38.8%的男性农业工人接受了泌尿科医生的检查，34.9%检查了前列腺特异性抗原水平。年龄较大、女性、单身、教育水平较低、农业年度工作时间和每日工作时间较多的个体，其健康素养水平显著较低。参与者进行乳房自我检查或参与前列腺癌筛查的状况与他们的健康素养水平之间存在统计学上的显著关系。
三分之二的农业工人健康素养不足。参与癌症筛查的参与者比例未超过三分之一。因此，应开展定性研究以调查农业工人不参与癌症筛查举措的原因，应规划提高健康素养的措施，并且健康专业人员应向农业工人推荐癌症筛查。此外，未来提高农业工人健康素养的努力应聚焦于年龄较大、女性、单身、教育水平较低以及在农业领域经验更丰富（每日工作时间和工作年限更长）的目标个体。
